Machine for stamping and obliterating postage stamps



(No Model.) 2 Sheefs-Sheet 1.

E. DAGUIN. v MACHINE FOR STAMPING AND OBLITERATING POSTAGE STAMPS.

No. 319,962. v Patented June 16, 1885.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

E. DAGUIN.

MACHINE FOR STAMPING AND OBLITERATING POSTAGE STAMPS.

No. 319,962. Patented June 16, 1885.

'FIO 4 NiTE TATES EUGENE DAGUIN, or PARIS, EEANoE.

MACHINE FOR STAMPlNG AND OBLITERATING POSTAGE-STAMPS.

sPBCIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 319,962, dated June 16,1885.

Application filed March 4, 1884. (No model.) Patented in FranceSeptember 30, 1882, No. 151,332.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGENE DAGUIN, a citizen of France, residing atParis, France, civil engineer, have invented a new Machine for StampingLetters and for obliterating Postage-Stamps, and also applicable toother similar purposes, (for which Ihave obtained a patent in France forfifteen years, No. 151,332, bearing date September 30, 1882,) of whichthe following is a specification.

The apparatus forming the subject of the present invention is intendedmore especially for stamping letters and obliterating postagestamps; butit is also applicable to other similar purposes. It is of simpleconstruction, of low cost, in order to make it generally applicable topost-office use, and is operated in a manner which differs but littlefrom the hand apparatus at present in use; but it possesses theadvantage over the latter of causing less fatigue to the person using itby restricting the movements-to what is absolutely necessary, andconsequently of enabling the machine to produce much more perfect work,to work more rapidly, and to yield a greater production.

In principle the new or improved apparatus is composed of a kind of armwith a jointed pivot fixed on a table of any suitable kind, and of aspecial arched form to allow of the storing (on the side of the pivotedjoint) of a large number of the letters to be stamped and obliterated,and carrying at the end presented to the user the mechanism intended forthe operations of stamping and obliterating. This mechanism, whichcomprises a vertical stem furnished at its lower end with the requireddies, and a simplified arrangement for inking the said dies, is actuatedby one hand applied to the stem for the purpose of effecting its descentat the same time that it is directed to the right or left, as required,by the position of the postagestamps on the letters, which letters aredistributed or placed one by one under the dies by the other hand. Theascent of the stem is effected by a spiral spring of steel wire of greatlength, taking its point of support on the pivoting-arm and actinguniformly on shows a sectional elevation of the machine,

the stem of the die-carrier to raise the mechanism being represented atrest. Fig. 1 is a detail perspective view of part of the same. Fig. 2 isa partial end view. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section at line 1 2; Fig. 3,a detail top view of the parts h a a. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section atline 3 4. Figs. 6 and 7 show a plan of the two oscillatingparallelmotion levers. Figs. 5, 8, and'8 are details of theinking-roller mechanism. Fig. 9 shows one of the die-carriers.

The pivoting-arm is a kind of crane, in one piece, of cast-iron,wrought-iron, or steel, comprising the pivot a, the arch b, and thefront forked support, 0 c, of the mechanism. The

pivot a rests on the lower wing, d, of a vibrating frame, d, which turnson a fixed pivot, e, which it embraces below by the other side of thewing d, while it sustains the pivot a by its upper wing, cl. This newjointed arrangement, while it preserves to the crane the faculty ofturning quite round its pivot a, procures for it the means of carryingthe stamping mechanism at Variable distances from the fixed pivot awhileallowing the movable pivot a to accomplish complete revolutions roundthe axis 0 as well in one direction as the other. The axis 6, which isfixed at bottom in a shoe, 6, screwed on, the table it, serves tosupport a case or frame, 6, the compartments of which areintended toreceive bottles of ink, lubricating-oil, &c. 4

The arch b is a prolongatlon of the pivot a,

and forks at the other end into two parallel branches, 0-0, on which aretaken the points ofsupport, and pivoting of the parts of the stampingand inking mechanism. This mechanism comprises, first, the stem f,carrying the die-carriers g g, and the downwardly-extending piston 71,for stopping and holding the letters during the stamping, and fordetaching the stamped letters from the stamp, second, the leversi and j,which oscillate on two fixed axes, 7c and l, crossing the branches 0 c,and which are jointed at f f? to the stem f, so as to form aparallelogram, if ffj Z c c k,- third, theinking-roller r, the journalsofwhioh take into the ends of two independent levers, m m, oscillatingon a common axis, a, which is parallel to the axes k Z, and, like them,crosses the branches 0 c of the crane; and, fourth, the spiral spring R,inclosed between the plates p p, (see Fig. 2,) forming a kind of barrel,

said spring raising by its free end the lever t, the stemf,and the otherlever, j.' The edge of the plate 12 may be notched to furnish asufficient hold to a bindingscrew, z. The stem f between thejoints ff isof such form that it can be conveniently held by the hand, serving as ahandle; but it is also furnished above the jointf" with a small saddle,(sellette) g, on which the fingers of the hand are placed astride fl(stem f, in order to exert on the latter the ressure necessary for itsdescent. Below the ointf the stem f is shaped so as to present at s s,to the right and left, the vertical sockets, into which the die-carriersg g are fitted, and at s the place for the piston h. This piston ismounted elastically with easy friction, and is regulated by means of thenut h,inorder that the. external and lower face shall come in contactwith the envelope to be stamped before the dies. These dies aremountedin the diecarriers 9 9', both alike, and as shown in- Fig. 9thatis to say, each die-carrier has a base, g, to receive the stamp, acylindrical part, 9*, for fitting in the vertical hole of the samediameter with which each of the parts 8 and s of the stem f isperforated, and, finally, a tail or appendage, g, which has a doubleobject.- In the firstplace,it serves for locking the stampcarrier in oneor other of the parts 8 s, which for that purpose are slotted from topto bottom externally in a plane perpendicular to the general axis of thecrane. ricr to the stem f, spring-catches u u engage under thetail-pieces as indicated in Fig. 1. In the second place, theseappendages g are useful for stamping by hand in case of emergency, andwhen from some cause the machine cannot be used and it is required tostamp and obliterate one or moreletters. The removal of the dies fromthe die-carriers is facilitated by pressure brought to bear on them by apointed instrument introduced into the hole The upper lever, z, of theparallelogram has near-the middle of its length a plate, t",on which thelifting-spring R acts, whichplate bears) at the extreme upper positionof the die-carrierf) against a stop, i covered with leather or othersubstance, for deadening shock. The lower lever, j, is furnishedexternally with two friction-rollers, o 1), which correspond to the twolevers, m m, carrying the inkingroller 1. These levers are of a specialform, which concur with the action. of the, diecarrier, to ink thelatter and to leave the inker at rest during the time the stamping istaking place. Oscillating at n, the two levers m m obey their respectivesprings m,whichtend constantly to place the roller r in theextremeposition shown in the drawings, which position is limited by thecross-stop y of the branches 00. When the stem f is lowered, thefrictionrollers 12 a quickly reach the levers m m, and force them (afterthe inking is effected) out of the way of the passage of the dies, andhold them steady while the impression is being made, and especially atthe moment of the blow, the effect of which is, that the reaction To fixthe die-carof the blow has no effect on the inking apparatus, andconsequently the rapid wear of the latter is avoided. These levers,after accomplishing inverse movement-s, return under the influence ofthe springs as into the position of rest, Fig.1.

It may here be observed that the levers m m have distinct springs as w,and that they thus allow of a certain irregularity in the uprightness ofthe dies, without thereby occasioning defective inking, from whicharises the important result of being able to operate with a perfectinking by means of a single die, g or g.

Finally, the lifting-spring R, fixed to the plate 19, can be stretchedmore or less, according as the screw 2 stops the plate 1) at one orother position-that is to say, said screw, bearing against the plate 1),holds the latter after it has been turned to wind the spring R more orless. The inking-roller is formed of the tubular ink-fountain 0", Figs.5 and 8, pierced with holes lengthwise of its genera-trices, and

covered with a cloth or felt, 7", cut obliquely, Fig. 2, to make ahelicoidal joint without sewing, which retards wear very much that is tosay, the oblique cut is stitched at the ends only, where the roller doesnot ink'. Its inking portion has no stitching, and yet the out, beingoblique, will not be forced open by the actof inking, which would be thecase if the out were parallel with the axis of the roller. The tube r isclosed at each end by a stopper, 1, which carries a gudgeon, r. Thestirring up of the ink is effected by the rotation of the roller at eachinking, and by the arrangement in the interior of a heavy rod, 1",corrugated, if required, and placed loose therein, so as not to followthe roller in its rotary movements.

The inker r is placed in its supports m m (which are of thin steel) byseparating the ends to allow of the entrance of the journals 1* of thesaid inker. It may also be observed that the stopperr is furnished (inthe part which fits into the tube 1") with openings havingtongue-pieces, which can be set out when the plug works loose, toconstitute elastic retainin-g-clips.

Action of the arrangement. The action is as follows: The operator actswith oneihand on the stem f to lower the dies, and with the other handhe brings the letters under the dies. These letters are held fixed onthe table t, before and after the application of the dies, by the.friction stopping piston h. All irregularity in the movements, tremblingand vibration in the parts, are compensated for by this specialsteadiness of the crane and of the letter to be stamped, from whichthere results a clear and neat impression of the dies, in spite ofinexperience of the operator. The stamped letters are piled up in frontof the operator, and are retained by a flange, t, with which the table tis furnished.

I claim- 1. In a stamping machine, the crane or ICO the inking-roller,separate springs 00 w, lever j, roller '0, lever 2', stamp g, andstamp-carrying stem f, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination of the spiral spring R with the plate 19, screw 2,lever 13, and stem f,

substantially as and for the purpose herein 20 shown and described.

EUGENE DAGUIN.

WVit-nesses:

A. BLETEY, GEORGE WALKER.

